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  All the girls said yes although their grandmother declined and kept answering questions. "Now, even though your mother said she wanted you to grow up "normal", I knew you were going to be anything but. So, when you came in the summer and on holidays, I would quietly teach you spells. It was important. There was no denying what would happen when Calli turned twenty-one."

  "You put a spell on us to make us forget what you taught us, why?" Ari asked.

  "Well, it was not long after your parents passed. I felt that you might try to use the spells to seek revenge. It was safer at the time to remove those memories until the time was right to bring them back," Coni explained.

  "You can bring them back?" Calli asked.

  "Yes, with a simple spell," Coni answered.

  Ari took another sip of her wine while her sisters talked amongst themselves about bringing those memories back. No one seemed to be opposed to it. Ari wasn't opposed to it at all. She waited patiently for the girls to debate it back and forth until they turned to her.

  Ari said calmly, "I want to know what I forgot. If we are going to get these powers, then we will need to be armed with knowledge and the spells."

  All the sisters agreed and their grandmother stood up again. "I want you all to close your eyes, breathe deeply and slowly." When all the sisters had done as she asked, she began to chant.

  "Powers that be, hear my cry, bring back what was once lost in time. Return the memories buried so deep, to remember a gift that is theirs to keep." Just as she finished, a strong breeze blew through the room, although there were no doors or windows open. Then a bright light flashed in a ball hovering over the center of the table and then split into five smaller balls that shot right into the chests of the five women sitting there.

  For a moment, they all sat there stunned. Then gasps could be heard around the room as the girls were overwhelmed with memories being returned to them. They all turned to look at one another. It had been like watching a movie in fast-forward and now they were all caught up.

  Their grandmother sat down and said, "Now you have them back. This is good. We need to prepare you for the receiving."

  Ari cleared her throat. "What happens then?"

  "You will all need to meet me in the circle in the grove at midnight when Calli turns twenty-one where you will all join hands. Then the Sun God and Mother Earth will bless you with your gifts," she explained.

  Erin said, "Will it be painful?"

  Their grandmother shook her head. "No, darling, it will be a wonderful experience. It is sacred and special."

  "Then what?" Kira asked.

  Reilly chose that moment to step up to their grandmother's side. At her nod of acknowledgement, he said, "In the coming days, you will all need to prepare for what is to come when you do get your powers. There is an evil out there that wishes to do you harm. He will come after you."

  Lachlan also stepped up. He looked at Ari as he spoke. "He is coming for all of you but he, in particular, has to kill you all in the order of your age in order to steal your powers from you."

  Calli gasped. "That means, uh, Ari..." All the sisters looked at Ari with stricken looks on their faces.

  "Have no fear that we will protect you all. No one will die," Lachlan said with certainty in his voice.

  Reilly nodded in agreement. "We are Guardians. We never lose."

  When he said that, he and Lachlan got very scary, serious looks of determination on their faces and Ari wanted to believe them. She wasn't as concerned for herself as her prime concern was keeping her sisters safe.

  Their grandmother stood and said, "Girls, using this much magick tires me now. I need to go lie down for a while. Then we will talk again." With that, she left and went upstairs for a nap.

  Ari looked around at the faces of her sisters. "Well, that's it then," she said as they all looked at her. "It's margarita time!"

  All the girls whooped and went to mix a batch of their famous margaritas.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ari glanced around and saw the men had slipped out the back door. Good, she didn't want the distraction of them right now, she needed to be with her sisters. They were all sitting around in the living room. Sheela was stretched out on the loveseat, Kira was on the couch with her while Erin and Calli were laying on the floor on their stomachs. Everyone was drinking the yummy margaritas. They were on their second pitcher of them when Erin sighed.

  "Okay, I think it's time to play truth. Especially after all we just heard from Mamo," she said.

  Kira laughed. "Don't you mean 'Truth or Dare'?"

  Erin shook her head. "No, I mean truth. I need to confess something to you guys."

  As they all waited patiently, she took a deep breath. Kira leaned forward and patted her shoulder. Then Erin sat up and sat Indian style as they waited.

  "Okay, you all know how much I love my job." At their nods, she continued. "Well, just before I came here, there was an incident. It shook me up enough that I took a leave of absence."

  Calli sat up next to her. "What? For how long?"

  Ari said, "Girls, let her tell this. Go on, honey."

  Erin nodded. "I was walking to go check on Horace, the elephant seal. I was grabbed from behind. A bag was thrown over my head and I was tossed into the shark tank."

  Sheela sat up. "Oh my God!"

  "Well, luckily there were some people nearby. I also had my emergency alarm and stunner in my utility belt. They got me out, but no one found who had done it. There are several odd things about it though. The park wasn't open yet and not just anyone can walk around there. Also, they knew it was feeding time for the sharks and where I was."

  Kira sat up straighter. "It was feeding time? Oh honey, thank God they got you out." She sat forward and hugged Erin.

  "Yeah, so I have been told to take an extended leave of absence. I have so much time banked that my boss insisted I take the summer. They will only call if there is an emergency. Now that Mamo has told us this news, I think it's a good idea," Erin told them with a lopsided grin.

  Kira said, "Yeah, duh." She rolled her eyes and giggled.

  Sheela had been silent for too long and Ari glanced her way. "What's up, Shea?"

  "Well, I, um..." Sheela mumbled.

  "Spill, little sister," Ari ordered.

  Sheela huffed and sat back a little, not really looking at anyone in particular. "I had an accident on the set. I crashed a motorcycle. I was actually in the hospital for a week."

  "WHAT?!" Ari yelled and stood up to rush to her side.

  Calli gasped and moved closer to her while Kira asked, "Are you alright?"

  Erin rushed to Sheela's other side. "Tell us."

  "I'm fine now, still a little bruised," Sheela told them. "I had a concussion, three broken ribs, and a dislocated shoulder."

  Ari hugged her close and said, "Dear heaven."

  "The thing is, when they conducted the investigation, they found someone had sabotaged the bike. I had just checked it over, so did Jim, so it had to have been someone they allowed on the backlot," Sheela explained. "That's not many and they are all supposed to sign in. The police investigated but everyone was accounted for. How did they do it?"

  Erin said, "What the hell is happening to us? Kira? Calli? Ari? Any more?"

  When Kira wouldn't meet Ari's look, Ari said, "Kira Louisa Kirkpatrick, speak."

  Kira cringed, knowing that Ari was serious. Ari had always been their leader, protector, and mother. She couldn't ignore the order. "Fine, there was a cave-in at my dig. Scared the shit out of me. I was the only one at the site and someone tampered with the entrance to make it collapse on me."

  Calli shifted to sit next to her on the couch and put her arm around her. "I am so happy you weren't hurt. Damn, Ari, what the hell?"

  "I don't know, sweetie, but we are going to get through this. I need to talk to Reilly and Lachlan. Did anything happen to you? Are you all right?" Ari asked the youngest.

  Calli shook her head. "I'm fine."

  Ari no
ticed how she didn't look her in the eye as she said it. "Calli, what happened?"

  Calli knew that Ari wouldn't let up so she said, "Nothing as bad as what happened to Erin, Kira, and Sheela, I promise. I was dating someone, that guy I told you about earlier. He asked a lot of questions about our family."

  "Like what?" Erin said.

  "Just normal get-to-know-you questions, but something seemed off," Calli answered.

  "And? Girl, I know you, there's more," Kira prodded.

  Calli shrugged. "Well, we were at dinner the last time I saw him and he was asking me stuff about you guys. I know it sounds bizarre, but I heard a voice tell me not to 'give him anything'. It was odd." She explained. "I even looked around me because the voice sounded so real."

  All of the sisters looked from Calli to Ari. They all seemed to be waiting for something. Ari was deep in thought about what all of this meant. She knew it meant that her sisters had already been targets, but she hadn't. Why? What was different? She also thought about Calli, was she coming in to her powers early? Maybe she was lucky some spirit wanted her safe. She heard one of them clear their throat.

  Ari looked at them and knew what they wanted to know. "Nothing has happened to me." When she saw their looks of disbelief she said, "I swear. I would tell you. Nothing. I am fine. I need to go talk to the guys. I will be back."

  With that, she got up and went to the back of the castle where she had seen the men exit.

  Being evil was good. It felt good and slid over him like a second skin. He could almost jump for joy, the women were all coming together. He knew they would be Blessed soon and then he would get what was coming to him. He had to get her first.

  He had plans. He was going to let the old bat think she and her girls were safe for now. Then he would strike. He had called in his cousin who sat before him now. He looked him over, they hadn't seen each other in a few years but had stayed in touch. They were alike in many ways, they both wanted power that wouldn't come easy to them unless they took it.

  "So, cousin, where is she?" his cousin asked him.

  He smiled. "She is at the castle. We need her. I need you to get her for us."

  "Why aren't you going to get her? You have been there before."

  "It is not the time for me to go. I have to keep a low profile at this time if we are to get what we want. Besides, I must keep the focus on finding the athame," he stated, which was true for the most part.

  His cousin nodded. "I will get her for you," he said as he looked at her photo again. "She's a hot little piece. She would be a lovely trophy for my play chamber."

  He knew his cousin had a dark side, but the chamber even made him feel bad for the women that went inside. "I need her here, not in your chamber. She is the first key to all of this."

  "Fine. I will go now. It shouldn't take long." With that, his cousin left.

  He pushed a button on his desk and ordered two of his men to follow his cousin. He wanted to ensure that he didn't stray from the plan. He also knew that as soon as his cousin had her, he would order his men to bring her back to him. Sadly, his cousin would have to die. He seemed too far-gone to actually be of further use to him as he had originally thought. Sad, he was one of his favorites too. Oh well, he had many more to choose from.

  Chapter Fourteen

  She went out the back door and walked through the garden. She was halfway to checking the pool house when an arm went around her waist. She was picked up off her feet and a voice whispered in her ear, "Where do ya think you're going, luv?"

  Her body relaxed when she realized it was Reilly and she almost sobbed with relief. He let her down and she immediately turned in his arms. She began to cry quietly and whispered to him, "Please take me somewhere no one can see me."

  He immediately swept her up into his arms and she felt Lachlan fall into place beside them. He walked for a few yards and then she heard a door open and shut. She had her face buried in his neck, inhaling his wonderful masculine scent, all woodsy and just Reilly. It made her feel safe and she felt secure in his arms.

  Reilly was shocked, that was the only way to put it. Ari had turned in his arms and fallen apart. What had happened? He looked to Lachlan for help and his brother just shrugged. He tightened his arms around the woman he loved and crooned to her.

  "It's okay, luv, you're safe. Let it out." He kept talking to her to assure her while Lachlan rubbed small circles on her back.

  They stayed that way for a while, allowing her to let herself go. When she was done, she continued to lay in Reilly's arms. Lachlan got up and went into the changing room for a minute. Then he came out with a damp cloth and a dry one.

  "Here, sweet, let's wash your face. You will feel better," Lachlan said softly as he washed her face and dried it. "There. All better now?"

  She nodded and said, "Thank you. I'm sorry I got your shirt all wet."

  Reilly chuckled. "No worries at all, I know you just wanted me to take it off."

  That comment got the result he wanted and a small smile hovered around her lips. Then she sat back to look at the two men. "I'm sorry I broke down like that. I don't usually do that."

  Lachlan leaned forward to get her to look him in the eye and said, "You can lean on us anytime, sweet. Now, want to tell us what happened to cause that?"

  She sighed and began to tell them all that her sisters had told her. She told them about each one and their incidents. The men asked her questions to clarify certain points and listened to everything before commenting.

  When she was done, she said, "The only odd thing is that nothing has happened to me." She saw them exchange a look and said, "What?"

  Reilly said, "Well, it almost did."

  "What do you mean?" Ari asked.

  Lachlan got her attention and said, "Coni sent for us a while ago and we were on another job. We decided Reilly should go to New York to watch over you just in case." He watched her reaction as he went on, "Being one of the Blessed Five made you a target, and we knew that."

  Ari looked from Lachlan to Reilly and back. "What happened?"

  "Reilly flew to New York to watch you. He followed you to make sure you would be safe until you came here." Lachlan looked over at Reilly.

  Reilly smiled at her. "It was a pleasure to watch you, over you."

  Ari frowned at him. "Something happened, didn't it?"

  He sighed. "Yes, luv, it did, but you are safe. Remember that." After she nodded, he continued. "You were walking home after having dinner with your boss, Julie. There was a man following you and when he went to make a move to grab you, I grabbed him instead."

  Ari was shocked. "I thought I had heard something that night behind me but when I looked, there was no one there," she whispered.

  Reilly nodded. "I took care of it."

  Ari was about to protest when Lachlan took her face in his hands and said, "We will keep you safe, Ari. No worries." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss upon her lips.

  Reilly stood and took one of her hands. "Come, luv, we want to take care of you."

  Lachlan took her other hand and they led her in the back door of the main castle. She could hear her sisters in the living room still, now they were talking and laughing. She smiled, grateful they could be carefree for a moment when they had danger swirling all around them.

  The men led her up the stairs quietly to her room. When they entered, they told her to get undressed, as they wanted to prepare a bath for her. She smiled at them for their thoughtfulness and began to undress.

  Lachlan came out and gently led her to the bathroom and helped her into the hot water. She groaned with gratitude when the water hit her. They had put something in the water to make it smell good; it felt like silk across her skin. She sunk into the water until all that was above the water was her head, then she leaned back on a soft towel Reilly placed behind her.

  Both of the men sat on the side of the tub, and watched her. After a few minutes, she felt someone move next to her. She peeked out of her eyes, and saw that Lachlan ha
d taken a washcloth and was putting soap on it. She closed her eyes again and waited. She felt Reilly move to the other side of the tub and do the same. They both began washing her gently. Rubbing and massaging her skin. She smiled a little at the way they were being so gentle.

  Before she knew it, Lachlan whispered into her ear it was time to get out of the tub. She frowned but allowed them to help her get out. The water had made her relax and once again, she was tired. They dried her off, took her into the bedroom, and pulled on a smooth and silky nightgown, before tucking her into bed. She protested when they kissed her, afraid they were going to leave her, but she felt them settle on either side of her. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep.

  She woke slowly, opening her eyes to look deep into Lachlan's. He leaned over and kissed her gently.

  He got up out of the bed and told her he would be back in a few moments. He disappeared out in to the hallway and quietly shut the door. She turned over and there was Reilly, watching her.

  "Are you doing better now, luv?" he asked as her ran a hand down her arm.

  She nodded and moved closer to him. "Yes, thank you."

  He captured her mouth in a searing kiss that left her breathless. She placed her hands on his chest and began to explore his chiseled body. His skin was soft and it felt like small electrical currents were running through her fingertips. He left her mouth and slowly kissed down to her neck.

  Reaching his stomach, she teased him by running her hand gently over his groin, never actually touching where he wanted her. Growling, he flipped her on her back and pulled her hands over her head, holding them with one hand while positioning her so her chest was pushed out, offering her breasts to feast on.

  Slowly circling one nipple with his tongue, and then moving to the other, teasing them until they were beaded and straining toward him, wanting to have his full treatment. After making sure she was writhing under him from the teasing, Reilly looked up at her and grinned before lowering his head and taking one nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. He rolled the nipple between his tongue and the roof of his mouth until she cried out in ecstasy. Then he moved to the other side and did the same thing. Ari panted and wondered if she could come from just having her nipples sucked.